(Eds: Recasting overnight story)Ahmedabad, Nov 15 (PTI) Former finance minister and BJPleader Yashwant Sinha taking a dig at Prime Minister NarendraModi over demonetisation, said even the 14th century Delhisultan, Muhammad bin Tughlaq, had implemented note ban 700years ago.
Criticising Modi for the controversial move, Sinha at afunction here claimed that demonetisation had hit the economyto the tune of Rs 3.75 lakh crore.
"There were many 'shahenshas' (king) who brought theirown currency. Some even kept previous currency in circulationwhile introducing the new one. But, there was a shahenshah 700years back - Muhammad Bin Tughlaq - who introduced his own(currency) while discontinuing the old currency," he said.
"Thus, we can say that demonetisation was done 700 yearsback. Though Tughlaq is infamous for shifting his capital fromDelhi to Daulatabad, he has also done demonetisation," Sinhasaid.
Tughlaq, who ruled the Delhi Sultanate for a short periodof time in the 14th century, was known for his controversialdecisions like shifting the capital of the Sultanate fromDelhi to Daulatabad and introducing non-precious metalcurrency.
Sinha was invited by a group of activists under thebanner of 'Lokshahi Bachao Abhiyan' (Save Democracy Movement)to share his views about note ban and the Goods and ServicesTax (GST).
He claimed that the biggest problem of the country wasunemployment.
"Time is running out to do something for the economy inthe current situation," he said.
Citing a report by the 'Centre for Monitoring IndianEconomy', the veteran BJP leader claimed that the direct costof demonetisation would come around Rs 1,28,000 crore.
"The direct cost of note ban, such as printing new notes,would come around Rs 1,28,000 crore. If we consider that theeconomy has slowed down by 1.5 per cent due to note ban,although I believe it is more than that, then it has made adent of Rs 2,25,000 crore more to the economy.
"Now add that direct cost of Rs 1,28,000 crore with thisRs 2,25,000 crore. In total, our economy has suffered a lossof around Rs 3.75 lakh crore directly," he said.
Sinha, who was finance minister in the Atal BihariVajpayee-led NDA government, said demonetisation and the GSTroll-out were treated just as "media events".
"We must think why we did that. We did it becausenowadays everything is a media event. We started believingthat no one did that before us. You should not forget thatAtal Bihari Vajpayee's government was also there. If he hasnot done anything, then why did we give him Bharat Ratna?"said Sinha. PTI PJT PD NP SRYDIP.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.